


thorns for a halo

by theflyjar



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Consensual Infidelity, Dysfunctional Relationships, Implied Murder, Implied Sexual Content, Infidelity, M/M, Manipulative Relationship, Multi, Non-Graphic Smut, Serial Killers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-04 20:35:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16353845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theflyjar/pseuds/theflyjar
Summary: Lu Han is the one who picks Yifan, out of anyone they could have seen that day, he decides upon Yifan.





	thorns for a halo

**Author's Note:**

> i ran a poll on twitter and posted the fic there earlier, which can be found [here](https://twitter.com/yifantares/status/1053573468955009024)

Lu Han is the one who picks Yifan, out of anyone they could have seen that day, he decides upon Yifan. It is, however, Yixing who approaches Yifan, smiling and flirting until they’re sure he’s the perfect one for them. When Yixing gives Lu Han the signal, he approaches, introducing himself as Yixing’s boyfriend and searching for any signs of disappointment on Yifan’s facial features. There is none, only genuine sincerity when he says it’s nice to meet them both. He’s new in town. He has no friends to speak of yet. Yixing’s mouth waters with how  _ perfect _ Yifan seems to be. 

They enact their plan from there. It’s a well-rehearsed and perfectly choreographed sequence of events, Yifan falling for everything they set up until he’s wrapped up around Yixing’s finger like a constrictor suffocating a small gazelle. Lu Han’s chipper and excited when he talks about how well things are going with Yifan, how each thing is going according to plan and running along with the schedule they prefer sticking to. It’s what makes Lu Han kiss Yixing until their lips hurt, and until Yixing’s palms  _ sting _ from where he’s digging in his fingernails.

Because unlike all the times before, there is one problem Yixing finds. It’s that, similarly, he’s just as ensnared by Yifan, too.

Lu Han thinks that it’s time to move on to the next phase, the one where Yixing kisses their prey and invites him to his bedroom. It’s speculation from Lu Han, but he believes Yifan would be the type to be reluctant to indulge in the fleshy pleasures offered to him by a man already spoken for. Even though, Lu Han fully believes that Yifan wants Yixing just as much as they want him to want Yixing. He’ll need coaxing into Yixing’s bed. Baiting.

Yixing’s stomach rolls uneasily, thinking of how he has been waking up beside Yifan for weeks now, languidly kissing and fucking until Lu Han calls Yixing to meet. 

There is something about Yifan that triggers another insatiable part of Yixing, not simply the calculated bloodlust their previous victims have. He makes Yixing’s heart race until it feels like it’ll simply beat its way out through his sternum and fall right down at Yifan’s feet, onto whatever sullied and dirtied ground they’re stood upon. 

The more time Yixing spends with Yifan, wrapped around him and delving into the depths of his soul, the less he wishes to wrap his hands around Yifan’s throat until all life slips away. 

But, Yixing cannot tell Lu Han of this, not when Lu Han would happily kill anyone before he lets Yixing go. 

Nor does he want to tell Yifan to run away, to escape the murderous teeth he doesn’t realise he’s between, but that’s out of selfishness for Yixing, not fear of what Lu Han would do. They’ve lost prey before, to parents dying overseas and wives calling them back to the countryside from the city. They move on, finding someone else to quell the darkness that lurks deep inside them. 

No, Yixing doesn’t want to send Yifan away because  _ he _ wants Yifan close, it is  _ he  _ that is intoxicated by Yifan. So, when Lu Han talks about their plans, Yixing plays dumb and keeps quiet about the affair he’s been having with Yifan.

Weirdly, Yixing feels the greasy weight of guilt in the pit of his stomach when he fucks Lu Han. It isn’t the guilt that Yixing’s taking solace in someone who isn’t his boyfriend, it’s guilt that he’s taking pleasure from someone who isn’t Yifan. That should be the warning, the constant sodium chloride orange on the dashboard telling him to stop. Instead of heeding that feeling, Yixing ignores it and slips out of Lu Han’s apartment, kissing his boyfriend on the cheek and saying, “I’m going back to my place.”

But, Yixing’s place isn’t where he ends up. He calls Yifan and his heart veers sharply when it’s a woman who answers, causing Yixing to check the screen of his phone to make sure he’s called the right person. She’s laughing, probably at something Yifan’s done, when she tells Yixing’s that Yifan’s just in the kitchen pouring them more wine. Yixing hangs up, dipping down into the next subway station and taking two different lines towards Yifan’s neighbourhood. He doesn’t know what has him pressing the buzzer a dozen time on Yifan’s apartment building’s main entrance until he hears Yifan’s voice on the intercom.

Yixing pretends he’s crying, “Ge, I need you.”

Yifan says nothing but the electronic lock of the door clicks and Yixing’s pushing his way in immediately. Yixing takes the elevator up thirteen floors, despite Yifan living on the eighteenth, and runs up the stairs the rest of the way. He makes his eyes water, taking the steps two-by-two, knowing that will labour his breathing and flush his cheeks to a believable level.

The woman answers when Yixing arrives, holding a fat pinot noir glass by its stem and smiling at him sweetly, eyes showing nothing but concern. She tilts her body until Yixing can slip into the apartment past her.

“He’s in the kitchen,” she tells Yixing and he bobs his head in thanks, taking off in that direction.

The moment Yixing sees Yifan, he pins him to the countertop, yanking his head down to kiss him firmly on the lips and Yifan reciprocates, just as hard.

“Oh, Yifan, you didn’t tell me it was like  _ this _ with Yixing,” the woman calls into the kitchen, amusement and something darker colouring her voice.

It’s lust. Yixing can recognise the sound of it anywhere. It’s what runs his life and has taken the place of love in his heart. Or, rather, it  _ had _ taken the place of love. Yixing’s not quite sure about anything anymore when Yifan pulls back, shyness colouring his cheeks as he looks over to the woman. 

That night is how Yixing finds out that Yifan usually prefers watching. The woman, Yixing learns, is Yifan’s ex-wife, visiting because she’s picking their daughter up from her boarding school in the next few days. She’s pleasant and funny, running her fingers up and down Yixing’s inner thigh as he’s bracketed by both her and Yifan on Yifan’s sofa. 

Yifan watches as Yixing fucks his ex-wife, then Yifan fucks Yixing’s spent body as his ex-wife plays with Yixing’s hair and herself.

“Yifan doesn’t usually fuck our bed partners, too. You must be very special,” Yifan’s ex-wife says as she redresses, speaking as if Yifan’s not right there, beside Yixing with his phone in his hand. “I’ll see you again in six weeks, Yifan. Yixing, I hope you’ll join us again.”

She speaks and leaves so breezily, kissing them both on the cheek once and then disappearing out the door into the darkness of the pre-dawn morning. Yixing blinks maybe a hundred times before Yifan moves and says anything at all, running his fingers up Yixing’s chest to run his thumbs over Yixing’s cheeks. It’s so gentle, so different to the ways Lu Han usually grabs at Yixing, so different from how Yifan fucked himself into Yixing’s ass to the point where Yixing’s sure he’s bruised between his thighs.

The feeling in Yixing’s chest is unmistakably  _ love,  _ the feeling that always hurts the most.

Love is what makes Yixing falter, weeks down the line, when Lu Han thinks Yixing’s only just starting to stay over at Yifan’s apartment and sends Yixing a text message of a single word:

_ Now. _

With tears on his cheeks, Yixing’s fingers wrap around Yifan’s neck whilst Yifan sleeps peacefully, and he presses a soft kiss and a soft declaration of his love to Yifan’s lips. He takes in a deep breath, hesitating.

Yifan’s eyes open. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading~


End file.
